Action Spotlight

End the war and blockade in Yemen imposed by the Saudi-led coalition which the U.S. is refueling. Urge your Representative to co-sponsor the Khanna-Massie resolution. Urge your Rep. to take action!
Img: Medecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders)

Blog

Human Rights Watch has reported that Israeli security forces are abusing Palestinian children detained in the West Bank. "Israeli security forces are using unnecessary force in arresting and detaining children, in some cases beating them, and holding them in unsafe and abusive conditions," HRW said.

Minnesota Democratic Representative Betty McCollum is now circulating a letter to President Obama, urging him to appoint a Special Envoy for Palestinian Youth to travel to the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel to hear directly from Palestinian youth, human rights and legal experts, NGOs, and Palestinian and Israeli officials, including police and military leaders, about the conditions of children in military detention and what steps can be taken to guarantee the internationally-recognized human rights of these children.

If you might be willing to deliver petitions to your local district office, please indicate that by filling out this form.

The Friends Committee on National Legislation, Jewish Voice for Peace, the American Friends Service Committee, Defense of Children International, Churches for Middle East Peace and other groups - including Just Foreign Policy - are urging Members of Congress to sign Rep. Betty McCollum's letter calling on President Obama to act to protect Palestinian children in Israeli military detention.

Your Rep. has spoken up in the past for peace, diplomacy, and human rights. Please help us today by calling your Representative now at (202) 224-3121. Ask to speak to the legislative aide who handles foreign policy. When you speak to a staffer or leave a message, you can say something like:

"I urge Rep. _______ to sign the McCollum letter asking President Obama to appoint an envoy for the protection of Palestinian children in Israeli military detention."

Human Rights Watch has reported that Israeli security forces are abusing Palestinian children detained in the West Bank. "Israeli security forces are using unnecessary force in arresting and detaining children, in some cases beating them, and holding them in unsafe and abusive conditions," HRW said.

The House Rules Committee is meeting Monday at 5 ET and Tuesday at 2 ET to decide which amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act will be allowed and which will be blocked from consideration by the full House.

Your Representative is a member of the House Rules Committee. Please call your Rep. now at (202) 224-3121. When you reach a staffer or leave a voice mail, you can say something like:

"As a constituent, I urge you to vote at the Rules Committee to allow the full House to consider whether to bar the transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia and whether to end or limit the US supply of weapons to combatants in Syria."

When you've made your call, you can report it below.

Our action on barring the transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia is here:

Your Representative in Congress was one of 27 Members who signed a bipartisan letter to President Obama urging him to maintain his opposition to sending MANPADs to Syrian insurgents.

Please call your Representative at (202) 224-3121 and say thank you - and ask them to take another step to limit military escalation.

When you reach a staffer, you can say something like,

"As your constituent, I thank you for your leadership in signing the Conyers-Yoho letter against sending MANPADs to Syrian insurgents. I urge you to co-sponsor the Lieu-Yoho bill, HJR 90, to condition US military support for Saudi Arabia on Saudi cooperation against terrorism and protection of civilians in Yemen."

When you've made your call, please report it below.

And if you haven't signed our petition in support of the Lieu-Yoho bill, you can do that here.

Tomorrow JFP's Robert Naiman going to deliver petitions to Senator Tammy Baldwin's office in Milwaukee, urging her to oppose the U.S. transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia. These anti-personnel weapons are loathed around the world for the extreme risk they pose to civilians - but Saudi Arabia has used them in its war in Yemen.

Please help Naiman deliver this message by calling Senator Baldwin's office in Milwaukee now at (414) 297-4451. When you reach a staffer, you can say something like:

"I urge Senator Baldwin to introduce an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would bar the U.S. transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia."

When you've made your call, please report it below.

And if you haven't yet signed our petition to Senator Baldwin urging her to oppose the transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia, you can do that here.

Reps. Ted Lieu [D-CA] and Ted Yoho [R-FL] have introduced legislation in the House (H.J.R. 90) that would restrict U.S. weapons transfers to Saudi Arabia. Just like the companion Murphy-Paul bill in the Senate, it would require the President to certify that Saudi Arabia is limiting civilian casualties in its war in Yemen and cooperating with the U.S. against ISIS and Al Qaeda before U.S. weapons transfers to Saudi Arabia could go forward.

Please call your Representative now at (202) 224-3121 and urge them to co-sponsor the Lieu-Yoho bill. When you reach a staffer or leave a message, you can say something like:

"As a constituent, I urge you to co-sponsor the Lieu-Yoho bill, HJR 90. It's time for greater Congressional oversight of U.S. weapons transfers to Saudi Arabia."

When you've made your call, please report it below.

And if you haven't signed our petition urging Congress to support the Lieu-Yoho bill yet, please do that here.

Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) have introduced legislation to prevent the U.S. from continuing to support Saudi-led military campaigns in places like Yemen where Saudi Arabia's year-long campaign has led to a devastating humanitarian crisis and a security vacuum that has empowered our terrorist enemies al Qaeda and ISIS. The Murphy-Paul bipartisan legislation will require the President to formally certify that the government of Saudi Arabia is demonstrating an ongoing effort to target terrorist groups, minimize harm to civilians, and facilitate humanitarian assistance before Congress can consider the sale or transfer of air-to-ground munitions to Saudi Arabia.

Urge your Senator to co-sponsor the Murphy-Paul bill by calling their office now at (202) 224-3121. When you reach a staffer, you can say something like:

"The civil war we've supplied in Yemen is prolonging human suffering in Yemen and aiding groups that are intent on attacking us. I urge you to support the Murphy-Paul bill to place new conditions on U.S. military aid to Saudi Arabia."

Please call (202) 224-3121 now and ask your Representative to sign the Ellison-Johnson-Kaptur letter urging Secretary of State Kerry to support an independent international investigation into the assassination of Berta Cáceres.

When you reach a staffer (or leave a message on a machine) you can say something like:

"I urge Rep. _______ to sign the Ellison-Johnson-Kaptur letter asking Secretary of State Kerry to support an independent international investigation into the assassination of Berta Cáceres."

When you've made your call, please report it below.

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA), and Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) are circulating a sign-on "Dear Colleague" letter in the U.S. House of Representatives to Secretary of State Kerry urging him to support an independent international investigation into the murder of Berta Cáceres. The letter also calls him to support protection for other Hondurans receiving threats, review U.S. support for loans to Honduras, and stop all aid to Honduran security forces. Like Senator Leahy, the letter urges that the Honduran government stop the Agua Zarca dam - the cause for which Berta gave her life.

Please call (202) 224-3121 now and ask your Representative to sign the Ellison-Johnson-Kaptur letter urging Secretary of State Kerry to support an independent international investigation into the assassination of Berta Cáceres.

Just because Hillary is speaking at AIPAC, doesn't mean that she has to pander to AIPAC. When President Obama's National Security Advisor Susan Rice spoke at AIPAC last year, she told them things that they didn't want to hear: that their demands that Iran cease all enrichment of uranium were unrealistic, and that their demands that the U.S. walk away from negotiations with Iran and increase sanctions on Iran instead were unrealistic. AIPAC didn't like it, but Susan Rice didn't let that stop her from telling the truth.

The COP21 international summit on the climate produced a landmark climate agreement with nearly 200 nations as cosignatories. [1] The agreement recognized "that climate change represents an urgent and potentially irreversible threat to human societies and the planet" and "that deep reductions in global emissions will be required" to revert climate change and its effects.

It is time for the U.S. to take steps to reduce its carbon emissions. The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) has introduced a resolution that calls for the U.S. to be emission-free by 2050 and details ways for the U.S. to reach that goal. We are joining organizations like the Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth, CREDO and others in calling for Congress to support this resolution.

Urge members of Congress to cosponsor and support the CPC's bill for the U.S. to be emission-free by 2050 by signing our joint petition:

As we've seen in Syria, climate change is a security issue. [2] Outside experts and Pentagon officials agree that droughts and extreme weather caused by climate change can exacerbate existing tensions within a society and increase the risk for war. A more peaceful world will be facilitated by a greener world.

Climate change poses a very real danger to the lives and well-being of every person on the planet, but especially to those in developing countries. The U.S. has a special obligation to take action to eliminate its carbon emissions because it is the second biggest carbon emitter and, thus, bears a larger responsibility to vulnerable communities affected by climate change.

Urge Congress to commit the U.S. to being emission-free by 2050 by signing & sharing our joint petition: